Well, my long awaited foal is here and he is everything I dreamed of. He is a very well defined zebra dun with a beautiful splashed white pattern and a lovely chocolatey mane. He has a gorgeous bald face and such sweet gentle eyes. And, oh my, the greatest personality! He got his dam's complete lack of fear and his sire's great sense of playfulness, which make for a lot of fun in his training sessions. Everything we do turns into a game, but he never goes overboard. I think he is going to be a truly great show horse. I had hopes for a filly, but I believe I will try this cross again and hopefully get one next time. Another surprise is how quickly he is gaining his balance and is able to move around. Extremely surefooted for such a young age. I can't wait for the other foals to arrive so I can watch how he interacts with them. I think that may tell a lot about his future place in the herd. Here is a pic I snapped of him the other day out in the pasture.
"Jacks"
More good news! Bayley is shaping up extremely well. I have been reinforcing her ground manners and also giving her lots of exercise and conditioning and she is looking absolutely amazing! Turning out exactly the way I had hoped from looking at her pedigree. She has a nice, easygoing personality and I have now decided to give her a shot in the ring, at least enough of a test to find out whether she enjoys it or now. I may not try for a higher title like I normally do with my mares, as she has such a late start, but it should give me some idea of how her foals will do in the ring. I haven't even thought about who I might eventually breed her to, but I think the foals will be stunning! She is now started under saddle and I am really enjoying getting on her back and feeling how she moves.
We are once again enjoying the signs of spring and have discovered a cute little snowshoe hare family out beyond the second pasture, can't wait to see the babies when they leave the nest. Speaking of nests, haven't seen the eagles yet, I am really hoping they come back, but they are quite old so this may be the year they don't return. I know eventually another pair will take over the nest, but it is hard to see things change.
Yep, you guessed it, we have a new horse here at the ranch. I was going out with a friend for coffee and she said she had to take care of some paperwork at the local auction barn on some recent sales she had made. I was riding with her in the car and got a bit bored sitting around the office, so I thought I would just LOOK at the horses on auction. Lesson learned! But, truth be told, although it was a bit of a whim, I got a wonderful mare that I couldn't be happier about. She has a great pedigree for movement and intelligence, both things I am trying to raise in my herd, and she is a looker for sure! That's what caught me, lol! Of course, then I had to cancel on my friend and call my hubby to come out with the truck and trailer, but I really think it is going to be very much worth it. I have had a chance to work with her on ground manners, and although I wasn't expecting much, she has obviously had some training. She halters and leads wonderfully, and is standing tied fairly well too. I am treating her just like I am Oscar since she appears to be at about the same place in her training. She really needs some work on her conditioning and fitness, but she sure cleaned up nice when I got her home. The farrier came out as her only health issue is some fairly overgrown hooves, but he says she should be back up to snuff within 6 months to a year and there is no permanent damage. Vet also checked her out and said she looks great. So, I guess I made a good decision. She is only 5 years old and could still have a long showing career or be a great broodmare. Here at PRF, she will probably do both. I also had the photographer take some shots when she was dropping off the prints I had done of Oscar and she gave me one to share. I really like it! This is my lovely Bayley. She wasn't registered so I got to pick a name for her, but she does know her barn name, so we kept that. And an update on the breeding for this year. While the vet was out checking over Bayley, he also preg checked Fury and Feather. Both are now confirmed for next year. Only took 3 AI attempts for Fury, which I thought was pretty good, considering she is nearing 30 years old. This will be her last foal. She will then join Saffi in the puff pasture and just eat her head off and enjoy life.
And, Cheri, I have 5 adorable kittens, looks like 3 boys, 1 black and 2 orange tabby. Also have 1 calico female (she stays to be Novah's farm kitty) and 1 cream tabby female. So stop by and pick one out. Just getting little slits in their eyes and starting to move around a bit. It's a busy, busy barn right now!
And, for those interested, the eagles are sitting on 2 eggs and I expect them to hatch in another week or so. It is always fun to watch the nest on late spring evenings.
I love the early weeks of spring. The birds are returning, the flowers are starting to peek out, the leaves are popping, and finally the snow is melting! In celebration, I took Astro out on a lazy trail ride this morning and we thoroughly enjoyed wandering the hills looking for the pasque flowers peeking through the grass in the meadows, and checking out our eagle's nest in the old lodge pole pine on top of the bluff across the creek. The parents are there doing some renovation on the nest and I am sure there will be eggs soon. 2 weeks ago, our one and only foal of the year arrived and he is a little stunner! I tried another outside stallion this year, one that I have seen at the shows over the years and always admired. He is owned by SarahLynn at Abbey Road and he did very well as a sire. We have a beautiful little colt named Shocking Straits, but we call him Oscar.  Oscar I haven't had the chance to work with him yet, but I am excited to see how he does. I also had the vet out to geld Charming. He is doing great, but he does not meet my standards as a sire so I thought the extra boost might be just what he needs to start picking up the majors needed to make it into the higher brackets. He is recovering well and already seems to be a bit more mild mannered. While the vet was here, he preg checked the 2 mares I had bred. One is a custom brood for Chassidy at Rockin CT, a full brother or sister to Oscar, and the other is a breeding I have been planning for several years. It is Puff's first foal and I bred him to Brava. She is double Iyu lined and is a Very Good mare. I have always loved her fearless disposition with just enough heat to really strut her way through the pleasure classes, but enough cool headedness to think through any obstacle she faces. Can't wait to see this foal and I am already thinking on names. I also bred my first Ardennais in several years, using my custom imported stallion, Guerdon. I actually won Guerdon in a contest and I have been very happy with how he has trained. He does not seem to be overly fond of the draft classes I have entered him in, but I am hoping he will cross well with my docile, almost lazy mares to get just what I am looking for. So, Brava is confirmed, Fury is rebred and Feather is bred. Should be a really fun and busy time next spring. So, that is what has been going on here. Oh, I am expecting a litter of barn kittens at some point soon, so if anyone would love a fluffy little kitty, let me know. The mama is the cat you may see on the barn cams. She especially adores lying on Joy's back and sleeping when it is cold at night and she seems to have a nice spot picked out next to her stall for a nursery, so you may get to watch the kittens on cam as they get more mobile. Thanks for dropping by!
I have been kind of keeping this guy under wraps, but I finally decided it was time to share him with the rest of the world. Dashin Prince is by WCh Dashin Medley out of my own homebred ACh Ruby Queene. He is just a lovely boy that will do anything I ask him to. If he doesn't understand what I want, he just keeps trying until he gets it. And then it is like a lightbulb goes on and he gets so excited. I cannot think of even one time he has regressed in his training. Once he's got it, he's got it.
So, now at 2 years and a couple months old, he is fully saddle broke and is getting his condition maxed out so that he can be my first futurity entry in 5 years. I will be training him for the halter and pleasure classes but at the rate he trains, I will be quite surprised if it takes more than a month or two at the very most. In the meantime, everyone here at the ranch is fighting their way through summer head colds and allergies and just trying to stay on top of all the chores. Summer is so much busier that there is no time for illness. Thank goodness I decided to downsize a couple of years ago. It has made things much easier to handle, especially as I am getting older. My poor, sweet husband , who has put up so well with this passion of mine for decades now just continues to help in any way he can. He doesn't share my obsession, but supports it and I truly appreciate him. I am already looking into the future when my granddaughter will hopefully take over the reins here, as I did for my Gammy. Well, back out to muck some stalls and get the rest of the hay put in the loft. Thanks for checking in!
Fury foaled in the middle of last month and what a foal it is! An absolutely stunning little grulla silver filly with a wonderful long stripe down her face. She has very defined dun markings and I already love her to pieces. I have now had an opportunity to spend some time training her and she is already completely accustomed to putting her halter on and being led around the barnyard without a single bit of anxiety. She paces herself very well with me and walks like a pro. So, about her name. I met a very interesting man yesterday in the optometry department of our local Walmart. He shared with me some of his life story. Apparently he had been a sniper in the special forces branch of the army and somewhere along the line met a lovely lady that was a runway model. He said he had been shot and been in 2 helicopter crashes and had all kinds of adventures. While we were visiting, his phone rang and he answered it with a, "Hello, Toots!" It was his wife and she wanted to share with him that she had just bought him a winter coat. He was upset because he said he didn't need one, he would rather have spent the money on ammunition as they are both competition sharpshooters. Anyway, when he hung up that led to another story of how his wife had recently recertified for a federal gun license and how she did better than all the local police force and FBI. He said she is much better than him at close range shooting. Then he told me about having been a university professor at several ivy league colleges back east. I wasn't sure whether to think he had a VERY active imagination or just a crazy interesting life, but either way, it inspired my new filly's name. It is The Sniper's Model, and her barn name is Toots. Here is a snapshot we took while it was still quite snowy out.
 I don't usually make it to the shows, and this month was no exception. I did get out to one beginner draft show at the start of the month because Guerdon was in his first event, where he did very well I might add. He took first in the in-hand class, and I have done very little training with him. But it is the late month classes where Puff blew us all away. He only had one competitor, so he didn't score any points for his championship, but his show score in halter was an astounding 89.14429199012358! When Kayla called and told me, I nearly dropped my phone. I am now on pins and needles waiting for them to get back so I can let Puff know how proud I am of him. He is exactly what I want for the future of Prairie Rose and this is such an exciting time for the whole ranch.
Well, things finally seem to have settled down around here. Mystic was recently sold and, although we will miss her, especially her buddy Roi, she has a fine new home and will hopefully do very well for her new owner. I am now down to a total of 17 horses, all either showing or breeding, so earning their keep. Well, except for Saffi. She is 38 years old and still full of herself and an easy keeper, but she has very much earned her retirement. Fury is beginning to look quite large in the belly area. She still has 3 months to go to her estimated due date, but she has always eaten like a, well, dare I say it, horse! And especially so when she is pregnant. So not sure how much of that tummy is baby and how much is just plain fat! But vet says she is healthy and looks great, especially for her age, 27. Not sure how many more times I will risk breeding her, maybe one or two. But she has been one of my best purchases ever. Her second foal, Revo, scored over 86 points in his halter class today and earned 2 more points toward his advanced championship. And her first foal, Sofi, is always still scoring points. She may be retired soon as a broodmare though. Would like her to get one more title first. And, speaking of babies, recently got to spend time with my granddaughter and can't believe how quickly they grow. She is almost a year old and is just about walking. She loves her gammy and even got a new tooth while I was there. Such a joy to spend time with. It is true that you enjoy your grandchildren more. All the fun with none of the responsibility. And we do tend to spoil her! Just a reminder that we are always home to receive visitors and always have our fresh ginger cookies and lemonade, so please stop by anytime. Of course, this time of year most people prefer hot cocoa or coffee, so that is available too. And we have Chevy pulling the sleigh for those who would like a ride. We even have the barn booked for a winter wedding and I am really looking forward to that. Being our first booking, it will be a test run and help us works out any of the bugs that may crop up. The fact that it is our dear friend's son doesn't hurt either. So stop on by!
I have been struggling with some health issues and low energy levels, so I have not been keeping up with my blog and website like I wanted to, but finally I have been able to update all the horse pages to the current status of my ranch. Now, hopefully, I can keep them current. I have made some drastic changes due to all the things going on in my life and currently only have 18 horses, one of whom is for sale. I have decided that I will keep my numbers under 20, preferably at 15 or less, but I still have a few that I am waffling on the future of. It slowly becomes more apparent as time goes by as to whether I want them to stay or go, so I am still making changes. My Paints will be only doing Halter and Pleasure classes and my main focus will be on their intelligence, movement and strength, with surefoot and agility a lesser focus. Of course, temperament and conformation are very important, but not the most important, to my mind. The Ardennais' will all be trained in in-hand, plowing and pulling. Their numbers will be the minority of my herd, with 5 or less. My main focus with them will be strength, intelligence and surefoot, with agility a lesser focus, along with temperament and conformation. I have one foal due for the year 215, a Paint out of Fury by Dashin Medley. Hoping to see some of those new things I am focusing on begin to show up. Fury has already given me 2 lovely foals, so I am very excited about this one, of course hoping for a filly. I think I have a handle on things now, so I hope to continue keeping up here with my blog and the site in general. Please stop by and visit often and let me know if you find any broken links or
Here is a direct link to the entry
I still haven't figured out exactly what direction I am going, but I THINK I am going to try to stick with western halter and reining for the Paints and draft in-hand and plowing for the Ardennais. Now if I can only find other competitors. Suddenly everyone switched from plowing to log pulling. Were my girls scaring them? Lol!
So, in regards to those goals, the Ardie's are doing quite well already but the Paints are all over the place. So, I am trying to narrow down which horses already have shown themselves to do well in those areas and then breed accordingly, trying to refine those qualities and fitness traits even further. I think I have found a very good match in Laiko and an older mare, Dun Cot Ya. And since both are also such stunning, flashy horses it helps even more. And both have loads of heart. I wouldn't mind adding in some presence also, but that will come with time I hope.
I have 2 of this year's foals that I am really excited about, both of my little fillies. I also have a colt that I am very hopeful for, although my boys seem to be much slower than my girls in their training sessions. But isn't that always the case. I may do some judicious gelding to get their little brains focusing better.
So, until I get my foals all geared the right way, I am still using whichever horses are showing well in anything at all to keep the money rolling in. I also am trying to keep my numbers low (around 40 or less) so that each horse can get my individual attention when it is needed. I like to train them all myself, from ground manners on up through each bracket as they advance. Since I also work part time off the ranch, I have to keep numbers waaay down! I currently have 12 horses on my showstring, showing in English, western, endurance, 3 day eventing and draft. Much too much paperwork for entries! Hence the constant refining. I also have 11 up and coming young horses in training. Yikes! Hurts my head to put it in writing. The rest are either retired pasture puffs that we just can't let go and a nice band of broodmares, which is quite geriatric, although better than it used to be.
So, as you can see, a woman's work is never done. I have to thank my great staff and the miscellaneous high school kids that show up and volunteer for grunt work in trade for free lessons. Without them none of this would be possible. I am really working hard to keep the Prairie Rose legacy going for another 100 years.
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